James VI and I
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James VI and I was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until his death in 1625. Although he long tried to get both countries to adopt a closer political union, the kingdoms of Scotland and England remained sovereign states, with their own parliaments, judiciaries, and laws, ruled by James in personal union. He was the longest-reigning monarch of the Kingdom of Scotland.
Portrait attributed to John de Critz, c. 1605
Portrait of James as a boy, after Arnold Bronckorst, 1574
James (right) depicted aged 17 beside his mother, 1583. In reality, they were separated when he was still a baby.
James in 1586, age 20 (attrib. Adrian Vanson or the school of Alonso Sánchez Coello)
Union of the Crowns
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The Union of the Crowns was the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of the Kingdom of England as James I and the practical unification of some functions of the two separate realms under a single individual on 24 March 1603. It followed the death of James's cousin, Elizabeth I of England, the last monarch of the Tudor dynasty.
Margaret Tudor
James in the year of his coronation in England, 1603
"England and Scotland with Minerva and Love" Allegorical work of the Union of the Crowns by Peter Paul Rubens